Ch.
2 Population and Health
Key Issue 3 Why Do Some Places Face Health Challenges?
Rubenstein, pp. 58-65
I. HEALTH AND GENDER
1. The health of women affects not just women, but…
2. The risk for females is especially acute for both women and babies at _________________________.
3. a. Define sex ratio:
b. What is the naturally occurring sex ratio?
c. What region/countries is not adhering to the standard sex ratio?
i. causes?
ii. root cause?
iii. impact of technology, government response, & effects?
iv. unintended effects?
d. Refer to Figure 2-20. Sex ratios (and other demographic data such as maternal mortality rates and
infant mortality rates) vary not only from country to country but also across _______________
within a country.
4. a. Define maternal mortality rate:
b. What is a typical maternal mortality rate in developed countries?
c. What is a typical maternal mortality rate in developing countries?
d. What are some causes of the disparity between the maternal mortality rate in developed and
developing countries?
e. How does the United States’ maternal mortality rate compare to that of other developed
countries? Causes?
II. HEALTH AND AGING
5. A country’s stage in the DTM determines the percentage of people in different __________________.
6. a. Define population pyramid:
b. How many years are found in each age group/cohort?
c. What does the length of the bar represent?
d. Which gender is typically shown on the left side of the graph? Right side?
e. (Think!) Which demographic measure primarily determines the shape of the pyramid?
7. a. Define dependency ratio:
b. Dependents =
c. A large dependency ratio indicates…
d. Which region of the world has the highest dependency ratio?
e. How does the proportion of the two dependency groups in European and sub-Saharan Africa differ
AND impact the societies differently?
8. a. Define infant mortality rate (IMR):
b. A country’s IMR is usually indicative of the state of its…
c. Which regions of the world have high IMRs?
d. IMR in developed v. developing countries AND causes:
9. a. The “graying” of a population refers to…
b. While this phenomenon should reflect better medical care and/or a higher standard of living in a
developed country, what challenges does it pose?
10. a. Define elderly support ratio:
b. World’s current elderly support ratio:
c. 2050 projected world elderly support ratio:
d. Refer to Figure 2-25. Are elderly support ratio projections impacting developed and developing
countries differently? Justify your answer.
e. Challenges deriving from a low/decreasing elderly support ratio:
III. MEDICAL SERVICES
11. Compare health care expenditure BOTH in terms of annual per capita spending and as a percentage
of government spending:
a. Europe -
b. U.S. -
c. Sub-Saharan Africa & South Asia –
d. Developed countries don’t just spend high amounts on healthcare, but they spend…
12. Compare the number of hospital beds and doctors in developed and developing countries:
a. Developed:
b. Developing:
13. Compare how the “burden” of healthcare costs differs between developed and developing
countries:
a. Developed:
b. Developing:
c. How does the U.S. compare to these trends?
14. Challenges to health services:
a. Causes:
b. Effects:
IV. THE EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRANSITION
15. Define epidemiology:
16. a. Define epidemiologic transition:
b. The epidemiologic transition was originally formulated by ________________________________
and extended to Stage 4 by ______________________ and _____________________________.
c. The epidemiologic transition is studied in conjunction with the DTM. Identify epidemiologic
characteristics of each stage:
i. Stage 1:
ii. Stage 2:
iii. Stage 3:
iv. Stage 4:
18. a. Historically, where were there high incidents of cholera?
b. Today, where are there higher incidents of cholera and why?
19. Today, which regions have the lowest incidence of cancer and why?